


Tomb Raider: The Early Years

by Mandosaro



Series: The Tomb Raider files [1]
Category: Tomb Raider (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 15:52:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6861655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandosaro/pseuds/Mandosaro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the early days of Lara Croft's Tomb Raiding adventures, she finds herself in Paris attempting to find yet another priceless wonder. However, instead of confronting a tomb's booby traps or the fangs of some mythical beast, Lara must battle against a conspiracy filled with corruption and intrigue that may uncover some truths that were better left untouched.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tomb Raider: The Early Years

The glittering lights of the various lit up buildings flashed past in the night sky as the car drove through the streets of Paris. The First Tower in the La Defense district loomed ahead as the metallic blue Bugatti Veyron roared it's way past the smaller skyscrapers. In the passenger seat, Lara unclipped her clutch and checked it's contents. Inside was an earpiece, an extra clip for her gun, tiny binoculars, and a miniature grapple gun.

Lara turned to Winston and watched as he steered them to the base of the First Tower building. They were at the back of a long line of cars each worth well over one million euros.

"I shan't wait in this queue all night Winston or we'll miss our chance entirely."

"Very good Ms Croft."

"Stay with the car. I'm expecting a rather quick getaway so a running engine would be much appreciated."

"Of course Ms Croft."

With a nod, Lara opened the passenger door and slid out of the car. After shutting the door, Lara strode forwards past the line of ferraris and lamborghinis with her clutch held close under her arm. She could see heads turning in her direction and for good reason. She had dressed to impress. The job required it. She was wearing a Vera Wang gown with a classic fishtail base which seemed to flow in the cool Parisian night air. It's midnight-blue tone matched the sapphire encrusted necklace draped around her neck. Both the dress and the necklace had been a gift to her mother from a family friend. Lara knew it wasn't from her father. He'd never had any taste in clothing. She was much like him in that respect. She valued practicality above glamour but at Lara liked to consider that she at least realised when such a display was needed.  
Lara looked upwards at the Tower before here. It seemed to be made from glass that shone from the several spotlights that were shining upon it. The spotlights were changing colours from dark greens to luscious purples from where they were stationed at the base of the tower. Lara made her way up the carpeted steps, attempting to avoid the flashing cameras and questions being fired from various journalists on the side of the steps. One man managed to break free from the ranks and Lara found his microphone in her face before she could react.

"Good evening, my name is Thomas Luddick. I have some questions regarding the island that you were stranded on some years ago. There are reports that the deaths of most of the crew did not occur at sea as was initially reported but actually occur..."

A security guard seized the journalist by his collar and wrenched him down the steps. The journalists' moustache seemed to quiver in anger as the rather portly man attempted to call out further questions. Lara continued up the steps and dispensed a smile to one of the doormen.  
The entrance lobby's floor was stunning marble with intricate patterns splayed across them of swirling circles intertwined with each other. Lara's heels clacked across the lobby as she walked towards the central staircase. The lobby was filled with men in pristine tuxedos and women in lavish ballgowns. One woman seemed to be attracting a large crowd. Her platinum blonde hair flowed down her head and was a stark contrast to the far more severe black suit she was wearing. A white cravat was tied around her neck yet it did not alter the fact that she exuded an aura of severity and fierceness. The woman seemed to notice Lara and bid farewell to the people surrounding her. She left her adoring fans and in a matter of seconds was beside Lara. It wasn't until the woman was up close to Lara, that she could notice the clown fish brooch pierced into the breast pocket of her suit. It's charming orange tone seemed out of place on the chest of someone such as this.

"Ms Croft! Well what a surprise this night is turning out to be! I wouldn't have expected to see someone of your...unique lifestyle at an event like this."

"Well, we all must attempt to relax at some point or another. I'm sorry, you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name but I can't say that I..."

The woman's forced smile twisted slightly before returning to it's sickly slit on her taut face.

"Sophia Leigh. You'll recognise my name of course. My company has projects all over the globe. We're the number three in the world when it comes to cosmetics."

"Ah I see. I apologise for not recognising you sooner. I should have realised who you were right away. Are you not currently under investigation for crimes against animals during some of your product testing?"

"Alleged crimes Ms Croft. Let's not forget that I get to be innocent until proven guilty thankfully. We don't live in one of those savage corners of the globe that you seem content to gallivant around in do we?"

Sophia laughed. It was a shrill cackle that reminded Lara of a goat she had once seen. The goat had of course been skewered at the time and being prepared for someone's dinner but it did sound surprisingly similar. Sophia then seemed to notice something else of interest and flitted her way towards it, allowing Lara to proceed up the stairs and into the main room. It was huge. Gigantic even. It was a ballroom of behemoth standards. Columns dotted the edges of the room and helped to hold up the frosted glass, domed ceiling. Long curtains of white hung from the ceiling and as the various lights in the room changed colour, as did the curtains. On the far side of the room was a raised wooden platform upon which a live orchestra were playing Beethoven's ninth symphony. Tables had been set up around the room with nibbles and overdone flower arrangements. Waiters meandered from person to person, their metal trays loaded with flutes of champagne. Lara accepted one and sipped as she walked across the ballroom.

"It breaks ma heart to see such a beautiful young woman here alone."

Lara whipped around to see where the voice had come from. A grinning man stood before her wearing a tux tight enough for her to realise that his body was chiseled to say the least.

"So darlin', how about we get you a stronger drink?"

"I'm fine thank you Mr..."

"Larson. You can call me Larson. I don't need to ask for your name darlin'. You are Miss Lara Croft from fancy old Great Britain. Question is, what is a sweet lil thing like yourself doing in a scary place like this?"

Larson bent forwards and whispered into Lara's ear. She could feel his hot breath in her ear. It smelt of port. She hated port.

"I bet you don't even realise how many criminals are in this building right this second Lara. It's a shame ma good friend Pierre is busy right now or else he'd offer to help me protect you from all these here crooks. Man, half of them would threaten to eat you up for breakfast. Whilst me and the other half? We'd just go ahead and do it."

Lara could have sworn that the taste of bile was rushing into her mouth. She refrained from vomiting on Larson's shiny black shoes. She wanted to attract attention but not that sort and not from anybody in this room.

"I thank you for your...kind offer Mr Larson but I can take care of myself thank you. I don't need some thug with a rented tuxedo to take care of me."

Lara turned and made her way towards the orchestra. She didn't look back to see Larson's grin. Instead, Lara reached the toilets and entered the women's. It was empty. Lara entered a cubicle and locked herself in. After a few seconds, the dress and heels were off revealing the black shorts she was wearing underneath. Inside the dress was a hidden pocket from which Lara drew some flats and the disassembled parts of two pistols which she then reassembled and strapped in to the holsters on the outside of her thighs. Lara placed the ear-piece into her ear and pulled on her fingerless gloves. Finally, Lara pulled her dark green vest over her head and carefully removed the curled extensions from her hair leaving a straight ponytail.

"Winston, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear Ms Croft."

"I'm ready for lights out. Is Zip in position?"

After a few moments, Winston replied.

"Yes Ms Croft. He is positioned on the opposite rooftop with the device. Commencing lights out now."

A couple of seconds past. Lara prayed under her breath. Nothing. Had the device not worked? Was Zip too far away? Was the backup generator simply kicking in and not altered by the device? Finally, the bathroom was descended into darkness. The cries of shock and confusion from the ballroom meant it was a similar case in there. Leaving the dress and heels on the tiled floor, Lara strapped the extra clip, grapple gun and binoculars to the belt of her shorts then left the bathroom.

The ballroom was chaos. It was practically pitch black and there were screams of panic everywhere. Security guards were scrambling for answers and every now and then, there would be the smash of broken glass and more cries of anguish. Lara reached a door beside the now silent orchestra's platform. Locked with a keypad beside it. Lara unattached her sapphire necklace and picked four of the jewels from it before tossing it behind her. Lara stuck one of the jewels to the keypad and the rest into a pouch on her belt. The jewel shone a dim blue before the keypad sparked and died. The door unlocked and Lara was in.

Inside was a spiralling metal staircase which Lara sprinted up. Reaching the 12th floor, Lara reached another locked door. She performed the same trick with another jewel and door opened for her. Lara emerged into a room where the walls were smooth mahogany and laden with shelves and shelves of books. In the centre of the room was a glass case. Inside the case was a closed red box roughly the size and depth of the yellow pages. Lara licked her lips and wiggled her fingers in the air. The glass case would probably be on it's own unique security system so the lack of a generator would not affect it's own countermeasures. Lara bent forwards and could see the lock. It would require precision. Lara reached into a pouch on her belt that contained some lock picking equipment. Then there was a gunshot. Lara flung herself backwards but the bullet had not been intended for her. Instead, it smashed through the glass case. Shattered glass sprinkled down onto the floor and alarm sirens began to scream. Swearing, Lara rapidly drew her dual pistols and aimed at where the gunshot had come from. The room was still dark but a silhouette was framed by the glow of the red alarm light. Larson. His colt revolver was still smoking slightly but was now aimed at her head. He stepped forwards with the same idiotic grin on his face.

"Well lookey here. Looks like I've wrangled maself some second rate thief with no business to be here. Drop 'em Lara. Don't make me hurt you."

"Put your gun down Larson or I put you down. Why the hell did you set of the alarm? We have seconds."

"Don't fret darlin'. I left some obstacles behind me. It'll take them a lil bit longer. Plus, not like I was an idiot and came here alone!"

Lara turned as she heard the creak of the floor. Another man in a tuxedo faced her from another open door. The man was bald with a carefully crafted beard and moustache. He too was wearing a tux yet his was clearly much more expensive than Larson's. He stepped into the room with a silenced pistol aimed at Lara's face.

"Larson? What is dis? We have no time. The guards will be here any minute. Grab the box and let's get out of here."

"Alright Pierre alright. No need to get your panties in a twist."

Larson crossed the room and plucked up the red box with one hand whilst the other still aimed the gun at Lara. He clearly struggled with the box's weight. Pierre noticed this too and groaned loudly.

"We do not have time Larson! Open the box, take the diamond and lets go1"

Larson grumbled and dropped the box on the ground. He fired the revolver and the lock on the box crumpled under the blast. Larson opened the lid and his expression of confusion was plain to see.

"Pierre...there's no damn rock in here...it's just paper. We've been fucking DUPED!"

With that, Larson kicked the box with all his might. It crashed across the ground and landed a metre or so away from Lara. A few pieces of paper spilled out but Lara could now see it's contents. The journal. It was in there. Finally, the sounds of the security guards could be heard close by. Lara watched beads of sweat run down Pierre's forehead.

"Leave it then. We'll go back to Bartoli and tell him he was wrong."

"Hey hey Pierre, could you listen to yourself? Bartoli will slice off our balls and hang them up to be pinatas if we leave without the diamond."

Lara looked away to the open door that Larson had entered from. Several guards pelted round a corner and shouted when they saw the three of them. They each had assault rifles and raised them. Gunfire echoed through the room. Lara ducked back into the stairwell she had emerged from. Larson hid behind the metal base of what had been the glass cabinet whilst Pierre hid behind the door he had entered from. Larson and Pierre fired back at the guards and the sound of the alarm was drowned out by the gunfire. Lara knew she had a chance to run and escape whilst the guards fought with Larson and Pierre. But the journal. It was just out of reach and could be seen in the glow of the red alarm. The alarm. The only source of light in the room apart from the flashes of the guns. Lara took a breath, aimed then fired. The bullet smashed the bulb and the red light cut out. Darkness. Bullets still rained forth but it was her only chance. Lara slipped her guns into her holsters and ran into the room. Lara took hold of the box and tried to lift it. It weighed a ton. The journal. She only needed the journal. Lara grabbed the small leather bound book, sprinted back into the stairwell and then up the stairs. As she ran, Lara kissed the book and slipped it into her belt.

It took a while but Lara eventually emerged onto the top floor. As she walked out of the stairwell, the normal lights resumed. The power was back on. The top floor was a single, large observatory. All the walls were just glass windows that looked out onto the city of Paris. The Eiffel tower could be seen glowing in the distance. Lara took a second to look out onto the beautiful city in the moonlight. It really was a sight to behold. Lara placed a finger to her ear.

"Winston, I have the book. I'm on the top floor. I need Zip to fire the...well...zip-line."

"Of course Ms Croft. One moment."

On one of the rooftops of one of the many buildings opposite the tower, a cable was fired. It soared across the gap between buildings and smashed through one of the tower's many glass windows. Lara guessed it was about 20 floors down. Lara drew her grapple gun and fired upwards into the steel girders above that held this glass construction in place. Checking it was secure, Lara attached the gun to her belt again. All she would need to do was abseil down the side of the building until she reached the zip-line. She could then use her belt as a harness and slide across to where Zip was waiting.

"I'm ready Winston. Head over to Zip and be ready for us to make a quick exit."

"Understood Ms Croft."

Something then slammed into Lara. It felt like being hit by a car. Lara crashed into the ground and rolled several times. Scrambling to her feet, Lara drew her dual pistols as Larson tried to hit her again. Lara dodged the fist and tried to step backwards to get a shot on him. Larson was quick for his size and was already on Lara. One of his hands gripped her throat whilst the other punched her mercilessly in the gut. Lara dropped her guns from the sheer shock and pain of the brutal attack. Still with his hand around her throat, Larson pushed Lara against the glass edge of the room. Struggling to breath, Lara's hands scrabbled at Larson's face. His teeth gritted, Larson was breathing fury from his flared nostrils. He was going to kill her. Lara started to choke and feel her eyes water. Pierre ran into the room from the stairwell. Lara knew he was telling Larson something but there was a roaring of blood in her ears that stopped her from hearing anything. Trying to release her throat from his vice like grip with her hands, Lara looked down. Larson had a bleeding gunshot wound in the leg. Without hesitation, Lara raised both feet and kicked as hard as she could onto his wound. Larson cried out in pain and released Lara's throat. Lara, gasping for air, slid down the glass wall and fell onto her side. Her throat felt sore as she rasped for breath. Pierre was shutting the stairwell door when he turned and saw Lara trying to stand. Swearing in French, Pierre started to run towards Lara with his silenced pistol raised. Lara's guns were too far away. Larson's colt revolver however was not. Lara dived towards Larson's moaning body and drew the weapon. Hiding behind his sandbag of a form, Lara fired at Pierre from behind Larson. Pierre dived and rolled to the side and several glass windows burst open from the colt's misses. The cold night air bellowed into the observation chamber. Lara kept shooting until the revolver clicked empty. Pierre jumped forwards to attack but Lara was ready. Holding the revolver by it's centre, Lara smacked the still warm weapon into Pierre's face. Pierre crumpled and dropped his gun. He turned on the ground to fight again but Lara pounced. With a roundhouse kick to Pierre's chest, Lara send him flying across the room. Larson roared. He was back up. Before Lara could turn, Larson wrapped his meaty arms around her waist, pinning her arms to her side with such a force that she dropped the empty revolver. Larson then began to bear hug Lara. Positioning her feet on his knees, Lara pushed upwards and headbutted Larson's lower jaw. She heard his mouth slam shut with a 'clack' and blood splurted out from between his lips. Larson released her and fell to his knees, clutching his mouth. At that moment, the stairwell door was kicked open. Security guards stampeded into the room. Too far away from her guns, Lara made a run for the glass on the same side of the building as the zip-line; still attached to the grapple cord. The guards fired at her. Bullets whizzed past and smashed the glass open. Lara grinned. This was it. She was going to get away. As she neared the edge, Lara prepared to swan dive out the broken window. Something hit her in the back of her right shoulder. It felt like a searing hot poker had been stabbed into her. The force of the hit caused her to lean to her right and slip out into the night sky.

Lara was falling. The tower cascaded by her. Lara yelled in pain as she flicked on the brakes of the grapple hook. Slowing down to almost a halt, Lara saw she was six or so floors from the zip-line. That was when the grapple cord snapped. Whether it had been cut by someone on the top floor or if it had snapped from the sheer force of the sudden brake, Lara started to fall again. In the few seconds she had left to her, Lara unclipped her belt. Holding it in her left hand Lara fell towards the zip-line. The journal fell free of the belt but Lara managed to catch it in her right hand even with the pain it gave her wounded shoulder. Biting down on the journal, Lara fell past the zip-line. The split second she was going past it as her belt trickled over it, Lara caught the right end of her belt causing her to have each hand on each end of the belt with it landing on the zip-lane and her hanging on for dear life underneath. Lara then proceeded to slide down the zip-line and across the gap of the buildings. Her right shoulder was on fire yet Lara held on to her belt. As the rooftop drew closer, Lara could see Zip waving at her. Lara tried to smile with the journal between her teeth but her face was instead caught in frozen fear. Her belt gave out and snapped just before the rooftop. Lara kept falling forwards and crashed into the side of the building several feet below the rooftop. Still falling Lara grabbed hold of a large French flag which tore before she could hold on to the flag pole. Lowering her several floors, Lara came to almost a standstill before the flag tore completely in half. Lara then fell the few remaining feet onto the roof of a taxi after which she rolled onto the cobbled pavement. Spitting out the journal, Lara tried to breath through the pain. As the headlights of a car drew closer, Lara drifted away into unconsciousness.


End file.
